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Tornado Destroys Kansas Town..
Topic Started: May 6 2007, 09:32 AM (138 Views)
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Tornado Destroys Kansas Town, Kills 9
By ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours ago

GREENSBURG, Kan. - The eerie beeping of battery-operated fire alarms buried beneath mounds of debris punctured the silence that fell over this community as hundreds of rescue workers pulled out of town. News of another approaching storm brought an uneasy quiet Saturday night as emergency crews called off the search for more victims of a tornado that killed at least eight people and devastated this southwest Kansas farming town a day earlier.

The National Weather Service said it had received reports "well into the double digits" of twisters touching down in six southwest Kansas counties. Numerous tornadoes were reported from South Dakota south into Oklahoma as forecasters scrambled to keep issuing warnings.

President Bush declared parts of Kansas a disaster area, freeing up federal money to aid in recovery.

"We need support," said Greensburg Administrator Steve Hewitt. "We want everybody to know this is a huge catastrophe."

At least eight people have died in the Greensburg area. Friday's weather was blamed for nine deaths in the region, a number authorities feared could rise even before the latest twisters. All its residents have been evacuated.

Among the few structures that survived was the Bar H Tavern. It was briefly converted into a morgue. Command operations for rescue efforts were moved into the town's stately courthouse, damaged but also still standing.

All the churches have been destroyed. Every business along the town's main street has been demolished _ for most, all that remains are steel girders, tattered insulation, splintered wood. The towns fire engines were crushed. Other crumpled vehicles were tossed into the melee.

The town's claim to fame is the world's biggest hand dug well. Its condition is unknown because it is buried under a mountain of debris. The attraction's gift store has disappeared.

For decades, meteorite hunters from throughout the world have been drawn here to hunt for space rocks in the rich soil near here. The town's extensive meteorite collection, including its famed 1,000-pound pallasite meteorite, is casualty of the storm.

"It is very scary right now," said Hewitt.

Hewitt estimated 95 percent of the town of 1,500 was destroyed and predicted rescue efforts could take days as survivors could be trapped in basements and under rubble.

Hewitt, who lost his home in the storm, was somber as he told reporters he was concerned what will happen to his community once all the volunteers and searchers ultimately go home.

"This is one of the most devastating tornadoes we have had in Kansas," said U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran.

U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will tour the storm-damaged area Sunday.

But at the shelter in neighboring Haviland, resident Cheryll Behm was skeptical. Her own storm-damaged house is probably repairable, but she said there is no town left. She is a nurse's aide who worked at the local hospital.

"I am concerned Greensburg never will be built," she said. "There is no place to go back to work to. All of Main Street is gone."

more - http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=...qh=itn_twisters

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Photo of twister that was reported to be almost two miles wide..

http://www.kotv.com/newsimages/640/5beb8a5...d9e78249169.jpg

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Kansas Families Return to Town in Ruins
By ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours ago

GREENSBURG, Kan. - Searchers found a survivor in the rubble that was once Greensburg, two days after a powerful tornado largely obliterated the town. Officials announced the rescue Monday as residents began the grim return to their splintered homes.

The survivor was found late Sunday, providing hope for other discoveries, said Kansas Highway Patrol spokesman Ron Knoefel. He did not provide other details.

The massive tornado, an F-5 with wind estimated at 205 mph, was part of a weekend of violent storms across the Plains that killed at least 10 people, eight of them in Greensburg.

Little remained standing Monday in the town of 1,500 but the grain elevator. The tornado demolished every business on the main street. Churches lost their steeples, trees were stripped of their branches and neighborhoods were flattened. Officials estimate as much as 95 percent of the town was destroyed.

The tornado carved a track 1.7 miles wide and 22 miles long Friday night.

The search for survivors or victims has complicated by the extent of the damage.

"Some of this rubble is 20, 30 feet deep," Maj. Gen. Todd Bunting, the state's adjutant general, told CNN on Monday morning.

more - http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index...cvqh=itn_kansas
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Reports are saying that this was the largest tornado in US history...

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Aerial photos of the devatated area...

http://www.kansas.com/static/slides/050507tornadoaerials/

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